


The Destroyer

by Aviantei



Category: Hataraku Maou-Sama! | The Devil Is a Part-Timer!
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Novel Spoilers, One Shot Collection, Twelve Shots of Summer, Twelve Shots of Summer: Gotta Write 'Em All!, Twelve Shots of Summer: Second Raid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-02 16:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21164657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviantei/pseuds/Aviantei
Summary: [One Shot Collection] It isn't until his reputation starts to stick that the layers begin to form. A look at the many perspectives on the Demon King and his closest generals. [Twelve Shots of Summer: Second Raid] [Twelve Shots of Summer: Gotta Write 'Em All!]





	1. The Destroyer

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot was originally posted on fanfiction.net on June 19, 2015. The first part was written for the Twelve Shots of Summer: Second Raid challenge Week Three prompt, "And then there will be cake," where I chose to go super roundabout way of using layers and cake as a verb... Whatever, I wanted to write Devil is a Part-Timer, so I did.
> 
> While it started as a one shot, I eventually wanted to expand the character studies, so there's a whole set of these.
> 
> (bangs pots and pans) There are novel spoilers later in this collection please proceed with caution!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

**The Destroyer **

By: Aviantei

A _The Devil is a Part-Timer!_ One Shot

[Twelve Shots of Summer Second Raid 3/12]

* * *

I.

* * *

He is born as an ordinary boy, a demon, but otherwise untouched by expectation. He is a child with parents, and he lives that way, untainted for years.

As he grows, he learns what it means to be a demon, the sort of things that are expected. Ever the hard-worker, he does his best, pushing forward.

It isn’t until his reputation starts to stick that the layers begin to form.

He works for conquest. Bit by bit, he takes over demon territory. The layers form as specks—a recognition there, the understanding of his power there. He grows, and his reputation grows with him: the boy trying to become the Devil.

Somehow, he ends up with followers. They think he’s strong enough, so they stick at his back, make his conquests easier. Several of them are older than him, teach him new tricks or just watch to see what he’ll do.

Fleck by fleck, the title of _leader_ sticks to him.

Alciel is the first future general to join his side. A tactician, incredibly powerful, but completely willing to serve. He puts the boy—becoming grown, becoming closer to a man—on a pedestal, the first to call him _Demonic Highness_.

And the up and coming demon thinks he likes the sound of that.

Their conquests become greater. Soon, half of the demonic kingdoms are under his control. Opposing demons jockeying for control send their armies, attempt to do battle, but the demon that was once a boy can see the fear in their eyes when they come to face with him.

More and more layers attached to him. A reputation just slightly out of proportion with the reality. And what they’re seeing is that, and not exactly him.

The other generals join in time, __ and __, and then, as the conquest of the demon realms comes to a close, Lucifer. It isn’t long before the title of Devil is his, a young man by demonic standards, now standing at the top.

The Devil. _Maou-sama._

He doesn’t realize it, but the layers are plastered to him, thick enough that it’s a wonder he can even move.

* * *

II.

* * *

Ente Isla is the next target, a land of humans. Focusing on the central capital, the Devil’s army easily overtakes the castle, forms it into their base of operations. The generals split into separate forces, taking on the remaining resisting lands.

He’s hit with the reputation of invader, of demon, of monster. More and more humans fear the demon king, treat the sins of his army as his own. Sticking harder than ever before, the layers continue to build up.

Humans are killed—another layer.

Territories are taken over—another layer.

Lucifer sets fire to the eastern continent—the layer is shared, but some of it still sticks, is caked on to the Devil.

Churches are collapsed—layer.

Prisoners are taken then executed as examples—_layer_.

The Hero rises in opposition—

—and the Devil turns his forces against her, attaching himself to the role known as _evil_.

* * *

III.

* * *

They stick to his skin, the ideas, the reputations. They take up more space than the lands he’s conquered. Just layers and layers, expanding out, distant, blinding, inflexible, covering everything about him. It’s a fact of living, but it’s a deep burial, a suffocating presence glued onto his skin, completely adhering to his shape.

Except when he leaves Ente Isla, when he comes to Japan, his body human, that of a boy, only several times more weak.

He’s smaller, and there’s space between him and those layers, there’s room to breathe.

It’s not permanent. New layers tack on. Alciel, forever following his Demonic Highness. The Hero, carrying her past grudge even into this new world. The approving attitude of Kiseki, the absolute adoration from Chi-chan.

And as he walks away from the old caked on layers—behind, but not forgotten—he finds the new ones surrounding him to be a lot more comfortable.


	2. The Tactician

**The Tactician **

By: Aviantei

A _The Devil is a Part-Timer!_ One Shot

* * *

I.

* * *

His own layers have existed for far longer, have encompassed far much more space. Before the rise of the newest insurgents, he has lead armies, conquered others. He is a tactician, and his strategies have long since raked through the demon realms. It’s when he faces defeat that the most significant layer is added.

The expectation that comes with leading an army under the rule of the boy that wishes to become the Devil King.

It seems like a joke, but he accepts. It’s a plenty gracious offer to be taken in by someone who’s defeated you. There aren’t many who give mercy like this amongst demons. But he knows, it’s less mercy, and more strategy.

So he takes his good fortune, accepts the new layer, considers it to be a trifle. It’s only going to be one of many layers that he’ll experience, given he lives long enough for it. There’s always some upstart or another trying to take over the demon realms, and it’s not his first time participating in such a campaign. It’s only a matter of time before this venture is washed away with the others, drained away into the past.

Except this one doesn’t. The campaigns succeed, and, in most cases, his layers precede him. People recognize the name Alciel, and it garners a sort of respect in their ranks. This is nothing new. The surprise comes when he’s recognized for his current feats, not his past reputations, the newest layers adding a slightly different sheen. The respect for his efforts, the praise of his new lord.

There’s more work to be done this time, it seems.

* * *

II.

* * *

Ente Isla is interesting, because his layers don’t hold as much weight there. There is only the fear of not understanding, the terror of _demons_, and in many ways that makes his job easier. But there’s still the satisfaction of when the newest layers start to form.

He tries not to think too hard on it—not when the corners of the continent still need to be properly conquered. Not when his attention is needed elsewhere. But they come in bits and pieces.

The Demon General that helped take over the capital.

The head of the Devil’s army.

_His Demonic Highness’s most trusted advisor._

And perhaps he shouldn’t, but he still takes pride in those layers, just for the moment.

* * *

III.

* * *

Earth doesn’t allow for that pride. The battlefield has changed from bloodshed to housecleaning. There is no knowledge of the Devil King’s army, no ability to take over this new realm with magic. The Devil King himself doesn’t seem too bothered by the transition, and his general is left to follow in his wake.

There isn’t as much space between him and his layers as it would seem. Even as he wastes weeks in libraries, researching magic and legends and a way back home, afternoons tending to the apartment, washing and dusting and cleaning, their weight is still there. They remind him of who he used to be, of what he’s done, of what else there is left to do. While he may seem like it on the outside, he has not forgotten, has not stopped planning for the battles to come.

And when he sees His Demonic Highness’s grin, he knows there is still work to be done.


	3. The Fallen

**The Fallen **

By: Aviantei

A _The Devil is a Part-Timer!_ One Shot

* * *

I.

* * *

As far as angels go, he’s in pretty high standing among them. His name is well known throughout the heavens, and even other archangels have a hard time denying his influence. The layers surrounding him are ones of respect and awe. You’d be more hard pressed to find someone that doesn’t know who he is.

It’s funny how quickly your layers can change.

From the status of archangel to one of the fallen. The stigma attached to his name, to his existence is reversed. Gone is the respect, the love, the reverence. In its place comes disdain, comes resentment, comes pity. Regardless of whose fault it is, the color of his wings cement his new standing in place, make it impossible to turn otherwise.

Holy force no longer comes to him willingly, and forcing it makes him feel sick. Plenty of angels seek after him, trying to eliminate the fallen angel from existence. That’s why the demon realms seem much more fitting.

At first, it’s simply because the chances of being followed are much lower here than anywhere else. But as he lives there, works on tending to his wounds, he realizes it’s better. No longer of Heaven, the fallen angel exists just as a demon. It’s almost laughable how easy the transition is.

But it doesn’t stop him. There are options open to him now, ones he couldn’t obtain as an angel. He works on mastering his new power, on building it back up and beyond what he once was.

And when the future Demon King finds him, he realizes his new layers aren’t exactly a bad thing anymore.

* * *

II.

* * *

In Ente Isla those layers become even more useful, given the religious nature of the country. The carnage he causes only adds more as he goes. By now, he’s more than adjusted to the change in position, accepted it as his new role. His former layers in Heaven still only seem like a silly trifle in comparison.

Now leading part of the Demon King’s army, he does his part with zeal. There’s hardly any part of the Eastern continent he hasn’t seen to destroying. Layer after layer builds up until—

_The demon that destroyed the Hero’s homeland._

It’s almost ironic that the Demon General Lucifer is the first of them to fall.

* * *

III.

* * *

Earth doesn’t change too much about him. Olba, albeit corrupt and foolish, recognizes him plenty for who he is, cements his existence and purpose. Even acting anonymously, the layers still come, just in smaller fragments. The series of muggings and break ins, all adding up into a fear that revitalizes his power.

They all recognize him when he reveals himself—the Demon King, the Hero, Alciel. None of them have forgotten, all silently supporting each other’s layers, keeping them in place. Even in the middle of Sasakuza, Ente Isla clings to all of them.

It’s the aftermath where things get tricky. In an instant he goes from enemy to roommate, stuck in the current dingy as hell Devil’s Castle. This time, he’s used to the transition, used to the sensation of layers falling off and shifting, becoming something different. And while it certainly has less prestige than archangel, than demon general, it doesn’t change the fact that a slacker shut in is what he’s become.

He’s not the only one that’s changed, though. Again, the Demon King, the Hero, Alciel—none of them are the same as they were before. Each of them has changed the layers on them. One day, they might become unrecognizable.

_And yet—_

Lower ranked angels still obey his commands. One night his wings shine white again, and the forgotten layers may not be as lost as they have believed. Amidst shock, he shrugs it off, but doesn’t let the thought fade.

After all, versatility is always a good skill to have.


	4. The Dedicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part was used for the Year Five [Twelve Shots of Summer] challenge, [Gotta Write 'Em All!], where the goal was to write all the missing prompts. This entry's was the [Second Raid] Week Two prompt, "My beloved monster and me" - a perfect fit for Chiho!

**The Dedicated**

By: Aviantei

[Twelve Shots of Summer: Gotta Write ‘Em All 2-2 A]

A _The Devil is a Part-Timer!_ One Shot

* * *

I.

* * *

She has the least layers out of any of them at the start, and that’s no surprise—she’s a young girl, living an ordinary life in Japan. She had friends, and family, and the archery club. Those are the parts that make her who she is, and that’s all she needs.

There’s hardly enough to even be considered a proper layer. Her reputations are mere fragments, perhaps a badge, but no where near enough area to begin to obscure what lies beneath.

She is pure in a way most older people cannot even hope to reclaim, even if she doesn’t realize it.

That’s not to say her badges don’t count for something. She’s marked with the uncertainty of her teenage years, and others will put expectations on her based on that alone. Her parents expect her to do her best, and the feeling is sometimes negative, sometimes positive. Her reputation with the kyudo club is the biggest layer, encompassing not just her clubmates, but her school’s and opponent’s recognitions as well.

And then she decides to take on a part-time job, and another layer is added.

There, she’s the new girl. A fresh wave of expectations joins the others. And while she makes mistakes, there’s someone who’s patient, someone who teaches her what she doesn’t understand, someone that she comes to find _wonderful_.

And putting aside the layer that comes from work at MgRonald’s, she hopes that one day she’ll carry the layer that is Maou-san’s respect and love.

* * *

II.

* * *

Finding out that her crush is the literal King of Demons does surprisingly little to change that hope.

What finding out _does_ do is add to her layers. She is no longer the ordinary high school girl in the kyudo club with a part-time job. She becomes the only ordinary human on Earth to know about the Devil King and the Hero and their battle over Ente Isla. To know about the demons living in a shoddy apartment in Sasazuka and the layers they left behind.

Maou-san gives her the chance to erase her memories, and she refuses, because no change to her layers, no additional layer added to those around her will ever make her want to give up how much closer she feels to him now.

So she keeps her memories and witnesses the conflicts that follow. She gains more layers, too: friend of Emi, friend of Suzuno, older sister to Alas Ramus.

Friend of the Devil King, a target to use against him, _the conduit for an angel’s power—_

Her layers are still so few to those around her. The demons carry centuries of history within them. Emi and Suzuno, though much younger, carry the heavy legacies of their church. She doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to stand on a par somewhat equal to them, or if they’ll keep racing ahead of her.

But while it’s in her power, and even if it seems like it’s not, she’ll make sure to stand by them.

And that’s a layer she’s not willing to give up.

* * *

III.

* * *

Without any warning, she picks up a new layer—one of the New Great Demon Generals.

It’s not the role she imagined for herself. It’s almost too big for her. She’s a human, and young at that, and she’s been appointed as one of the leaders of the Devil King’s future reestablished army. Demons that she’s never met before recognize her title and give her respect.

She’s just elated that Maou-san has given her such a layer, that he considers her important enough to fight by his side and play a part in accomplishing his ambitions.

Others might have the power go to their heads. The original four Great Demon generals, Ashiya and Urushihara included, took their positions with much greater ambitions. But even as time passes and the layer signaling her as a superior in an army grows and takes enough shape to become a proper layer, she acts as she did before.

She gives Maou-san her love.

She gives her friends her support.

She does her best at school, at club, at work.

And she still smiles, because no matter what layers may build on her in the future, the residents of that dingy apartment in Sasazuka will still be her precious friends—just as she’ll still be the ordinary high school girl that loves Maou-san with all her heart.


	5. The Cleric

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part was used for the Year Five [Twelve Shots of Summer] challenge, [Gotta Write 'Em All!], where the goal was to write all the missing prompts. This entry's was the [Second Raid] Week Four prompt, "Stranger in a Foreign Land."

**The Cleric**

By: Aviantei

[Twelve Shots of Summer: Gotta Write ‘Em All 2-4 A]

A _The Devil is a Part-Timer!_ One Shot

* * *

I.

* * *

She is raised as a member of the church and becomes its cleric when she’s old enough. People talk of her dedication—first in awe, then in hushed whispers, then almost as a threat, because she is no longer any church cleric.

As the Devil King’s army advances, she becomes the Chief Inquisitor of the Church of Ente Isla, and she gains the layer of _executioner_.

At first, it doesn’t bother her—or rather, she tries not to think about it. The church she loved is twisted inside, she can’t deny that. Heretics should be pushed out. So, she follows the orders she’s given, because _something_ needs to be done.

Even if she’s part of the problem.

She knows better than anyone else that what she’s doing isn’t the solution. But her layers have stuck to her: as a cleric, as the Chief Inquisitor, as an executioner. Her hammer and hands become coated in blood, and she wonders just how in the world she’s supposed to breathe with all the expectations smothering her.

And then her newest layer arrives, the one granted by the archangel Sariel, and she lets herself drown, hoping that the pain will stop if she can’t feel anything else.

* * *

II.

* * *

Unlike some of the others, going to Earth does nothing to put space between the church’s High Inquisitor and her layers. If anything, they feel all the closer as she moves into the ramshackle Sasazuka apartment that hosts the Devil King. Because even if the demon she’s spying on don’t know who she is, Lord Sariel does, and he expects her help.

It’s not to say that there isn’t any change. Though it hardly seems to make any difference with the tar of Ente Isla’s expectations clinging to her skin, she becomes a new neighbor, one that shares her resources and food. The Devil King and his remaining generals view the church cleric sent to kill them as a friend, and she repays their acceptance by poisoning their rations with holy force.

Emilia the Hero is there as well, and, after some time, the High Inquisitor is recognized as just that. And though it doesn’t go the way she expected, few other layers stick in pieces—as an ally to the hero, as a mistaken rival for a human girl’s affections—and it’s all so different from the clinging layers of her past, the ones that refuse to fade. The new layers carry such a flavor of ordinariness.

And that’s what bothers her so much. Because while she’s suffering the Hero and the Devil are living so far away from the expectations placed on them in Ente Isla. They’ve living as if the fate of another world wasn’t fought for by their hands. And _she_—she’s still trapped in the damn war, whether she likes it or not, and the blood she’s spilled—the _blood—_

So, when Sariel falls, it’s no wonder she drops the old layers as fast as she can.

She doesn’t believe just running away will make anything better. But she believes, as the church, the real church believes, in redemption. Her old layers leave stains, but they’re covered up by the new life that forms.

Where she’s not an avatar of death, but just a neighbor. One who brings food that isn’t poisoned by holy force. One that shares company. One that fights for what she believes is right, and not just because she’s been compelled to out of an empty sense of justice.

And those actions earn her the title of General in the New Devil King’s Army.

* * *

III.

* * *

She puts up as much resistance as should be expected. Friend of the Devil King or no (and, she can’t deny that _friend_ is the truth), she has no desire to be a part of his army. But he sticks the layer on her anyways, and those below him follow, so there’s not much that can be done to fight it.

Except when Emilia goes missing and the High Inquisitor in name only spends time with the Devil King—with _Maou Sadao_ and understands more of what he was trying to accomplish my trying to overtake her home, she can’t help but wonder just how much of the layers she placed on him were unjustified.

And though none of her own layers feel like they fit any more, maybe she can put up with trying out another one to see if it works, if only for a little while.


	6. The Savior

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece was part of the Year five [Twelve Shots of Summer: Gotta Write 'Em All!] challenge. It was to make up for the year one week seven prompt, "The sun still rises."

**The Savior **

By: Aviantei

[Twelve Shots of Summer: Gotta Write ‘Em All 1-7 A]

A _The Devil is a Part-Timer!_ One Shot

* * *

I.

* * *

She is born as an ordinary girl, the daughter of a farmer, though expectations are laid out for her that she has no awareness of. She is a child who loves her father, and she lives that way, happy for years.

And then she learns that she’s the Hero, and her quiet life slips away.

She’s the daughter of an angel, and that’s not something she can help. But those around her load the young girl up with layers anyway, the expectation that she’s going to be the one to rescue Ente Isla from the demon armies plaguing their lands.

She is small, and she is fragile. She doesn’t understand. But she pushes on anyway.

By the time she reaches her first battle, the layers of the people have reached her already. After all, she’s the Hero, the light of hope in the world. And she is still yet young, a teenager, and that pressure is too much, but she’s trained too hard to just run away.

_You want to keep your father safe, don’t you?_

The saving grace is that she doesn’t fight alone. She has her companions—Emeralda, Albert, Olba—and they carry their fair share of layers, too. The court’s magician, the defeated leader of the northern isle, the archbishop of the church. They form bonds, and with them comes a soothing layer of trust for the young Hero. Together they gain victories and more layers splatter against them as word of their deeds spread.

Then Lucifer razes the eastern island, taking her father with it. She retaliates, and the Hero claims the first head of the Demon King’s Four Great Generals. And she doesn’t stop there. She vanquishes the other generals as well, then turns on the central island and the capital.

The layers are plastered to her, thick enough that it’s a wonder she can even move to fight the Devil King.

* * *

II.

* * *

When the Devil King ends up on Earth, she follows. She’s the Hero, after all, and she must not let him escape, not after everything he’s done. Her reputation won’t allow otherwise—and more importantly, neither will her pride or anger.

But instead of the scourge of Ente Isla, she finds Maou Sadao, an otherwise ordinary guy living a pathetic fast food wage life in his crummy little apartment in Sasazuka. She’s disgusted to see her archenemy in such a state—until she realizes she’s no different, that she’s built fresh layers as well.

She joins Docodemo and gains Suzuki Rika’s friendship—layer.

She harasses the Devil King and Alciel—another layer.

She fights against Olba and Lucifer’s joined front—layer.

Sariel attempts to strip away the Better Half and she retaliates—_layer._

Alas Ramus reaches out to her, calls her _Mama—_

—and with the more time that passes, the Hero isn’t sure just _what_ her role is supposed to be anymore.

* * *

III.

* * *

She’s certain that becoming one of the Generals of the New Devil King’s Army isn’t the answer to her problem. It’s a ridiculous decision in the first place, completely unthought through, ridiculous, impulse, and in direct opposition to who she is. She has enough layers anyway, from both Ente Isla and Earth, so she doesn’t need another.

Except when she returns to Ente Isla, when she is kidnapped, her home under risk, treated like a plaything, she feels so much weaker.

She’s trapped, there’s no space between her and who she’s being manipulated to be, she can’t _breathe_.

But that feeling doesn’t last. She has Alas Ramus to care for. Alciel, of all people, sends a note that brings hope and later rendezvous. And the Devil King, still in the shape of Maou Sadao, comes to save _her_ of all things, carrying the feelings of everyone from Earth.

And so when the conflict is over—and the sun rises over Ente Isla, just the same as it does on Earth—she realizes that, somehow, the place by his side is a lot more comfortable than it should be._  
_


End file.
